What Went Wrong With Jen Calimon’s “Escolta Fire” Selfie?

With the great impact social networking sites have to its users, it is a must to always think twice before you post any status or photos specially when you are a public figure.

News Correspondent Jen Calimon of TV 5 got bashed on Social Media for posting a selfie on Facebook celebrating her scoop for the day which was a fire in Escolta, Manila.

In her post was the caption, “Uuwing masaya after three live reports. Salamat mga kaibigan sa MPD sa pagkumbinsing may ilalaang mas magandang story si Lord. I love my beat!!” (Going home happy after three live reports. Thanks to my friends at MPD for convincing me that God will grant a better story.)

Moments after Jen’s selfie was posted on Facebook, hundreds of comments flooded bashing the correspondent with sarcasm and criticizing her post for her lack of sensitivity.

Others even shared the reporter’s selfie with negative captions:

One of the comments even said that the selfie of tragic incident was just treated as “an experience or souvenir”.

But, did the netizens just really overreacted over Jen’s “Escolta Fire” selfie?

In 2013, as reported in the Huffington Post, after the Typhoon Yolanda incident, policemen assigned during relief operations were banned from posting selfies with the typhoon stricken areas as their background. Lina Sarmiento, head of the community relations was quoted saying, “I think that’s (selfies) being insensitive. People there are suffering from the effects of the typhoon, losing home and loved ones, yet here they are posing for pictures as if it is something enjoyable.”

Although we may understand Jen’s excitement for being able to get the scoop and posting it to maybe share with the public her so-called “God-sent” story, The US Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics states the following:

Be sensitive when seeking or using interviews or photographs of those affected by tragedy or grief.

The place of the incident was actually just an abandoned building, there were no casualties but one of the firemen was badly hurt, but we leave our readers with another quote from The US Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics:

Recognize that gathering and reporting information may cause harm or discomfort. Pursuit of the news is not a license for arrogance.

Lastly, we leave you this statement from the The Philippine Journalist’s Code of Ethics:

I shall conduct myself in public or while performing my duties as journalist in such
manner as to maintain the dignity of my profession.

What Went Wrong With Jen Calimon’s “Escolta Fire” Selfie? An uncalled-for selfie? An inappropriate caption? Or was it just a misinterpretation? We’ve already stated the facts.